Page 29 - All About History - Issue 29-15

Death Of A King

MartinLutherKingJrrosefromasimpleBaptist

minister to a crusader for nonviolent protest and racial

equality, and his death resonated around the world

Written by Dom Reseigh-Lincoln

he Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s – a social and and his natural talent for public speaking made him a force of
political upheaval that changed the United States, and nature, captivating the media and befuddling both the radical
indeed the wider world – has immortalised many of black activists of the movement and the white traditionalists
its most famous activists. Some were radicals, urging refusing to alter the status quo. It also made him a target. His
T African Americans to break the shackles of enforced life was filled with attacks and assassination attempts, but
segregation and create a new nation of black supremacy, while whether by luck or the grace of god, King survived almost
others preached a policy of peace, believing only diplomacy every one.
and reason could undo the prejudices of old. In life, King was the voice of a new era, one that wanted
Martin Luther King Jr, the son of a Baptist minister and one to make all citizens equal in the eyes of god and the
of the figureheads of the Civil Rights Movement throughout Constitution, a peaceful force in a nation ready to blow like a
the 1950s and 1960s, was one such peaceful individual – but powder keg. In his later years, he was a key influence on the
unlike his contemporaries, his legacy owes itself as much to ratification of the Civil Rights Bill, which granted civil equality
the aftermath of his death as it does the inspirational actions for African Americans, but his death helped secure the last
of his life. As a figure campaigning for change in a country – and perhaps the most vital – legislative change of the Civil
struggling to shake off its divisionist traditions, King refused Rights Movement: the Housing Act. The wave of mourning felt
to accept the segregation that forced African Americans into across the nation following his murder, however tragic, was
lives as second-class citizens. exactly what was needed to ensure every citizen – regardless
He organised sit-ins and led rallies and protests, but always of colour or creed – could have a home that was protected
promoted a mantra of nonviolence – his position as a minister from discrimination.
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